Araknia
Araknia was a robot that competed in Series 7 of Robot Wars, built by the team who created Riptilion. It lost its first round battle after having its armour destroyed by Hellbent, and did not appear again. Design Araknia was an invertible, heptagonal-shaped robot with a paint scheme depicting a spider, which captain Geoff Graham chose over a rat as the only theme he could paint on and 'make look sensible'. Its armour consisted of carbon-fibre and fibreglass, which Graham joked "might as well be cardboard". It was armed with a spinning bar blade with rare earth magnets attached to its ends. This weapon, however, was ineffective, and the carbon-fibre armour proved fragile and flammable in its only appearance. Etymology The name Araknia is derived from arachnid, the general term for spiders, which the robot visually represents. It could also be a shortened version of arachnophobia, the fear of spiders. The Team Araknia was built by the Terror-Dactyls, a team based in Preston, Lancashire. However, the team also had roots in New Zealand, and represented this country in the Third World Championship qualifiers with Riptilion, a robot which the Terror-Dactyls also entered into Series 6 and the second series of Extreme. The team captain Geoff Graham was the driver of the robot, and Phil Marsden was his teammate, alongside an unidentified third team member. (It is possible said team member was Robert Read, credited as the third team member when the team appeared with Riptilion in the same series.) Qualification In the Series 7 qualifiers, Araknia was found to be 5 centimetres over the width limit, forcing the Terror-Dactyls to cut part of it off with a hacksaw. It fought Big Nipper, Ewe 2 and eventual champion Typhoon 2 in its qualifier battle. Araknia became immobilised during the fight, but received a discretionary place in the main competition. Robot History Series 7 Araknia's first and only battle saw them fight three newcomers; Hellbent, Mean Streak and German entry I Bot One Beta. As Hellbent attacked Mean Streak, Araknia struck Hellbent's side twice with its spinning bar, causing no visible damage. Hellbent then immediately attacked Araknia, easily putting its axe through its armour. Araknia moved away to spin up its bar again before coming in to attack Mean Streak, where an impact with Mean Streak's discs caused part of Araknia's bar to break off, although it remained functional. Hellbent repeatedly axed Araknia's top panel, penetrating the carbon-fibre armour, then hurled Araknia over. It was left on its back, where it seemed unable to move freely. Araknia spun round in circles, and its top armour plate and several other pieces came off. Araknia was harassed by Hellbent once more before being dragged aside and having its electronics set on fire over the flame pit. Araknia was counted out by the Refbot and eliminated along with I Bot One Beta. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 0 *Losses: 1 Series Record Trivia *At 77kg, Araknia was the lightest robot to enter the main competition of the Seventh Wars. **However, this means that out of all the robots to be the lightest within their respective series, Araknia was the heaviest until the 85kg Frostbite entered Series 9. *The Terror-Dactyls are the only New Zealander team to enter Robot Wars. Category:UK Series competitors Category:New Zealand Robots Category:Robots from Lancashire Category:Robots with Lawnmower Blades Category:Animal Based Robots Category:Invertible Robots Category:Robots which debuted in Series 7 Category:Robots which lost their only battle Category:Robots which only fought in Series 7 Category:Robots based on Bugs